An Interactive Play for Voices based in Queen Square.

April 15th to May 4th 2004
Weekdays - 10am until 6pm
Weekends - 11am until 4pm

Imagine a play for voices. It is the Bristol Riots of 1831. The Political Reform Bill has been defeated in Parliament and the vote denied once more to ordinary people. Now those people are rising up and thousands of them have filled Queen Square in the heart of the city to vent their fury. You hear the rioters' voices as they plunder the surrounding buildings, the flames as buildings burn, the merchants as they flee for their lives and the Dragoon Guards as they sabre-charge through the crowds cutting the rioters down.

As part of a three week experimental research trial visitors to Queen Square can immerse themselves in this dramatic experience in the very space where the riots took place 170 years ago. Equipped with a backpack and a set of headphones your movement through the square will trigger sounds and voices. Alter your position and you are in charge of who and what you hear. Art and technology have immersed you in the Bristol Riots and the experience is shaped by you.

How to get to Queen Square (map plus pointer)

This is a free outdoor event. Please go to Queen Square House to pick up a small backpack of necessary equipment. We will ask you to fill in a form and show us proof of your address. Once equipped you will walk around the pedestrian area of Queen Square (inside the trees) listening to Riot! through a set of headphones. As you walk your movement will trigger different pieces of the play, the more you walk around the more different pieces will unravel. You can stay in the experience for as long as you want to however at busy times we may limit people to one hour.

When you return your equipment we would be very grateful if you could fill in a short questionnaire and give us some feedback on how you found the experience. Riot! is an experimental form of new media and your comments will be a vital part of our research.

Individuals and small groups do not need to book in advance, please just come along to the green tent outside Queen Square House. If you would like to bring a large group of people please email Josephine Reid to make sure that we can accommodate you.

We will also be offering people the opportunity to share one backpack with two sets of headphones if you prefer to walk around in pairs.

Guidance for parents or carers of young children

We would like to advise all visitors, especially those with young children, that Riot! contains some intense scenes and vivid sound effects. The experience is designed to make you feel as if you are in the midst of the 1831 riot and the stories and language are based on the reports from the actual event. If you have any worries please do not hesitate to ask a member of the Mobile Bristol team.

We hope you enjoy your visit.

External links about Riot

Wireless riot on Bristol's streets (15/09/03)
Riot is relived in Queen Square (15/04/04)
Relive the riot in Queen Square (16/04/04)
Queen Square riot in pictures (23/04/04)

Headphones are connected to a small HP computer, called an iPAQ, that plays the appropriate sound file depending on where you are in the square. Your location is determined by a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver unit attached to the iPAQ. GPS is a worldwide radio navigation system that uses satellites to calculate your position. A GPS receiver needs visibility of at least three satellites to get a good position reading. The satellites are orbiting the earth and sometimes there may not be enough satellites in view to get a good reading. High buildings, trees and wet leaves can all obstruct the signal and so there may be times when the positioning system used in Riot! does not work very accurately. If this is the case we may ask people to come back when the conditions are more favourable.

The writers specify the sounds that should play and how they should play by using a software authoring tool. The tool uses a map of the area as a background on which regions can be drawn. Associated with each region is the specification of what the user should experience when they enter or re-enter the space. For example the writers may want a series of sounds to play in order or only if another region has been entered. A computer program running on the iPAQ works out which sound file should be played depending on where you are and what logic has been specified for this region. The computer software and authoring tool package were written by the Mobile Bristol team, please see authoring tool for more details.

People involved in the making of Riot!

Writers and producers: Liz Crow and Ralph Hoyte
Sound Design: Armin Elsaesser
Original idea: Ralph Hoyte

Cast : Chris McCalphy, Tim Prior, Ben Tinniswood, Peter Townsend, Leona Walker, Christine West
Musicians: Stefan Hoyte, Simon Toomer

Mobile Bristol Team.
Project Manager : Jo Reid
Software Architect : Richard Hull
Authoring Tools : Ben Clayton
Logic Implementation : Kirston Cater
Media Enhancements : Greg Jablonski
Poster and Graphics : Rachel Eardley
Trial support and testing : Tom Melamed, Paul Marsh, Stuart Martin, John Honniball, Hans Daanen
Contracts and legal : Detha Sanders

Thanks for the support of
Yucca Media : Richie Jones and Nik Lazell
Bristol City Council : Jerry Baker, Philip Higgins, Ken Ray